MIDGET BASEBALL - SMYS offers "T-Ball" for 4 and 5-year olds, Coach Pitch for 6 olds and 7 year olds and modified player pitch for 8 year olds. Midget Baseball helps teach kids the skills they need to advance into Junior Baseball. This is a fun experience for the kids and parents to enjoy together. Midget Baseball focuses on hitting; fielding, throwing, and helping kids develop teamwork and new friendships.  All games and practices are played locally in Littleton and/or Highlands Ranch.

YOUTH BASEBALL - South Metro Youth Sports (SMYS) provides youth baseball for athletes representing the Littleton, Heritage, Arapahoe, Sheridan, Thunder Ridge, Mountain Vista, Highlands Ranch and Rock Canyon High School areas. SMYS is a part of the Jefferson County Junior Baseball League (JCJBL). League games are played against other areas including Alameda, Bear Creek, Brighton, Broomfield, Englewood, Golden, Green Mountain, Lakewood, Louisville, North Jeffco, South Jeffco, West Jeffco, and Wheat Ridge.  JCJBL is divided into a North and South Division depending upon the number of teams in each age and level. 

SMYS provides competitive baseball for players between 8-14 years old. For 8 year olds, Youth Baseball offers only Competitive League. The other option for 8 year olds is to play in the MODIFIED PLAYER PITCH BASEBALL (see MIDGET BASEBALL above) Machine Pitch Program. For ages 9 to 14 there are four levels of play, 0 through 3, with 0 (competitive) leagues being the most competitive league.

JCJBL is affiliated with USSSA. The corresponding USSSA levels are Majors – 0 league, AAA – 1 league, AA – 2 and 3 league. Teams are separated into different levels to allow teams of similar abilities to play each other. Teams may opt to play in higher USSSA tournaments than their corresponding JCJBL league. For example, an AA JCJBL team is allowed to play in AAA and/or Major tournaments. AA teams that qualify for USSSA State automatically qualify for AA Nationals.  

Teams are formed according to high school boundaries. A player attending an elementary or junior high that feeds into Littleton High School will play on a SMYS sponsored team with other players who will also attend Littleton High School. Should there not be enough players from a particular age group within an area to form a team; those players will be moved to another of our areas.

All 8-9 year old players are required to participate in the tryout process. Players 10-14 years old, players changing teams and/or new players are required to participate in the tryout process. The tryout process is governed by procedures documented in the SMYS by-laws. An overview of the tryout/draft process is as follows:

8 Competitive and 9 Year Olds - All players participate in the tryout process. The “Competitive” league teams are selected by a committee of previous coaches. Any 8 year olds not selected for the “Competitive” league team will play in the modified player pitch league and will receive a refund for the difference in registration fees.

10-14 Year Olds - All “Competitive” and “1” level teams may retain 8 players maximum from the previous year, “2” level teams may retain 9 players maximum, and “3” level teams may retain their entire team from the previous year. For example, if a “Competitive” league team has 12 returning players from the previous year; four players must be placed in the draft. This is done to enable room for improving players to move to a more competitive level if they choose to do so and also to provide an opportunity for players new to the area. The coach may recall players placed draft after the tryouts and prior to the draft should the player want to return to the previous year’s team. As with 8/9 year olds, the “Competitive” league team(s) will draft first followed by the 1-4 leagues.

Each year we follow the same general timeline for registration, tryouts, team selection, and game schedules. The general baseball timeline is as follows:

· Registration: Now accepting baseball registrations for 2009
· Tryouts/Team Selection: February 1st through March 15th
· Practice Starts: Early March
· Games Start: Early to Mid April
· Games End: End of June
· State Tournaments: 1st or 2nd week of July
· National Tournaments: 4th week of July - 2nd week of August

Visit Jefferson County Junior Baseball at www.jcjbl.org 

for additional information and playing fields.